How to enjoy your honeymoon in Venice

Hi guys,

yeah I know! I only wrote yesterday and you may be surprised if you’re used to the frequency of my posts. However, I just saw an interesting article on Twitter, and I really wanted to say something about it.

The article is a good piece written by Emma Leiper and you can find it here:

Why Not To Honeymoon in Venice, If You Want Your Marriage To Survive

Go and read it, I’ll wait for you here…

The reason I wanted to comment on that article is that I was struck by how many things can go wrong if you make the wrong choices in Venice, and Emma here is a good example of my point.

First of all I want to say to Emma that I’m really sorry about her bad experience, and I’m writing this just to help other girls like her having better memories, so don’t me mad at me Emma, please

“During my own honeymoon in Venice I persuaded my husband that a kayak trip around the city would be fun, envisaging us sharing a wonderful experience together, working as man and wife to explore the environs of this magical city.   I did not, however, envisage the near-death experience that was being nearly hit by a speeding boat whose driver wasn’t looking where he was going.”

I have to agree with you on this one. The water traffic in Venice is just as bad as the road traffic of anywhere else.

Campo Santa Margherita

“Rather than gazing longingly into your loved ones eyes, you’ll be staring longingly at your map at the destination you want to be at and despairing at how you’re going to reach it in the labyrinth that is Venice’s streets.”

Forgive me Emma, I think you got it wrong. Getting lost in Venice is inhevitable but it’s not necessarily bad. If getting lost takes you away from the crowded streets to more peaceful areas, I think it’s a good thing! Consider that Venice in my opinion has no “bad” areas, you’re basically walking in an open air museum, so even if you’re not in front of Palazzo Ducale, your view will still be beautiful. On this subject also read n°3 of my top 5 things to do in Venice: Getting Lost.

“That cosy moonlit stroll quickly descends into exasperation at not knowing which direction leads back to your hotel, annoyance at your other half for taking you down a street that leads to a dead-end, and irritation that no one can help you because they’re as befuddled as you are as to which way to go. “

Zattere at sunset is one of the romantic areas of Venice

I know your feeling. Let me just add to what I said above: many tourists disappear at late evening, so during crowded seasons you might want to shift your daytime to a late hour, in order to walk in a much more romantic environment. On the post I linked above I also mentioned my 2nd favourite thing to do in Venice: romantic walk at Zattere during sunset (and it’s not crowded)

“Then when you do know where you’re going, you’ve got to compete with the hordes of fellow tourists moving through the tiny streets, turning a twenty minute journey to that lovely romantic restaurant you read about in your guide book into an hour long street wrestle. That’s of course assuming you know the way to the restaurant in the first place.  “

This is a delicate subject. There are many tourist traps in Venice, and I tried to teach how to spot them in these two posts:

How to avoid tourist traps in Venice and How to avoing being ripped-off in restaurants

This leads my to my point. If you’re just a little careful about avoiding tourist traps and very touristic areas (like rialto and san marco), you can find plenty of good restaurants for an affordable price in Venice. As I always say: locals also live in Venice and we absolutely like to eat well for a low price.

“If you’re travelling on one of the city’s many water buses, you may find solace in the form of a warm embrace. Just don’t expect that embrace to be your significant other’s. The vast quantities of people crammed into the city’s vaporetti will bestow upon you a startling level of intimacy as you are sandwiched in-between throngs of stressed out, perspiring tourists grappling with their maps and falling over their suitcases. “

I don’t know why so many tourists take vaporetti. I always suggest not to do so and just walk. First of all they’re very expensive, and as you said they are always very crowded. The only reason in my opinion for you to take them is to try once this near death experience or to reach/leave your hotel. Venice is the size of Central Park in Manhattan, so you can easily walk all of it during less than a day.

“I won’t even begin to discuss the perplexities and trauma involved in sourcing the correct water bus, the eye-popping expense of sitting in St. Mark’s Square having a glass of vino”

Never get ANYTHING in San Marco, especially sitting down. The only exception is the historic Caffè Florian.

Again, I really hope you don’t take my post the wrong way. I don’t mean to critic, I just hope this could help other people having the same struggle.